


In the Midst of a War, a Little Luck

by Isis_McGee



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: 1940s, Bottom Steve Rogers, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Captain America: The First Avenger, Dancing, Explicit Sexual Content, Multi, Smoking, Threesome - F/M/M, War Era, World War II, World War Threesome, i mean it's bucky so like it's not a real death but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-10-09 04:09:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10403610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isis_McGee/pseuds/Isis_McGee
Summary: Peggy Carter gets asked to dance while on a night of leave by Sargent James Barnes and she learns something she never expected. But she, Sargent Barnes, and Captain Rogers come to an arrangement that works for all three of them with this new information.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I read through this to proofread on my own, but other than that, it's unbeta'd. I also didn't do a ton of historical research so sorry for any anachronisms.

Smoke curled into the London night, replacing the characteristic fog that was absent that evening and Peggy watched it until it disappeared. She could hear the music of the bar and the laughter of its occupants and was happy for the brief reprieve they had for the next few days. She, of course, was much less relaxed than the men drunk inside trying to convince the bar matrons to dance with them, or sit with them for good luck in their poker game. The only reason Peggy Carter was even at this bar was that she’d been meant to meet Captain Rogers so the two of them could be fetched by Colonel Phillips at once. Instead, Phillips had changed his mind at the last minute and took Steve to discuss something different and private and Peggy was left with a unit of soldiers on leave. She hadn’t quite decided whether she was thankful she was in civilian clothes‒ a simple navy blue dress that cinched at the waist in a way that flattered her but didn’t draw attention like the red one she’d worn specifically to wow Steve Rogers all those months ago—but she was grateful for the lightness of the fabric in the humid night.

Peggy took a drag of her cigarette and watched the smoke again. She’d raised it to her lips once more when she heard a polite cough.

“I didn’t know you smoked, Agent Carter, ma’am.” There was just a hint of teasing in the familiar voice. “It’s not a habit Captain America’s too fond of.”

“Well then, it’s a good thing the Captain isn’t here, isn’t it, Sargent?” Peggy turned and held out a book of matches for Barnes to take and light the cigarette hanging from his own lips. The end caught on and Barnes sucked in a lungful, blowing it upward. “Besides, I don’t think Steve Rogers much minds it, seeing as his best friend’s partaking as well.”

Barnes handed Peggy her matches back with a smile. It was easy to see what a charmer he’d once been when he did. “Nah, Stevie hated those damn asthma cigarettes. Almost think he’s happier to be rid of them than the asthma. And I never smoked indoors. Scout’s honor.”

Peggy rolled her eyes at him and he came to stand with her against the wall. The street was dark except for the moon and they stood in silence as Bucky dragged on his cigarette. Peggy ground hers into the walk with her toe and ran a finger around the outline of her lips.

“Did I smear?” she asked. She’d seen the ring of red around the end before she’d dropped it.

Barnes glanced over at her, then seemed to register what she’d said. For a brief moment, Peggy thought that he was going to bring a hand up to cup her chin and examine her. It would have been an overly familiar gesture, but Peggy wasn’t completely sure she would have minded. Something swirled in her stomach at the thought. Bucky Barnes may not exactly have been her type‒ she’d never gone for the overly charming, for the men who knew exactly how to smile to get a woman’s attention and who knew what they looked like doing it‒ but he was a good soldier, and by all accounts, a good man. Steve would have taken a bullet for him, but more importantly, would have put a bullet in someone else for him without thinking twice. That said more about who Bucky Barnes was than anything else as far as Peggy was concerned.

“No, ma’am, you’re a knockout as always.”

“You flatterer,” Peggy said, glad for the darkness that would hide her blush, even if it was faint.

Barnes finished his cigarette and stubbed it out on the brick wall. Peggy wrinkled her brow at him but he didn’t apologize. He ran a hand through his hair and it fluffed up just a bit; it was clear he wasn’t used to being out without it slicked back, even now.

“Miss Carter,” Barnes began and Peggy’s one eyebrow shot up. He smiled. “I know you’re an agent and deserve that respect, ma’am, but it’s a little intimidating asking a woman to dance with the title of ‘agent.’”

Peggy was taken aback and it must have shown on her face.

“I don’t mean anything untoward. I know you and Steve‒”

“Are colleagues, Sargent Barnes.” Peggy’s voice was light when she interrupted him. He nodded and they both knew it was a flimsy lie.

“What I mean to say is that I know I’m a poor replacement for Captain America, and I’m an even poorer replacement for Steve Rogers, but it’s your leave too and it seems like it’d be a shame to waste a good band on a night with no dancing. Just harmless fun. I won’t even make a move on ya’, promise.”

Peggy snorted indelicately and Barnes grinned. He held a hand out for her and she took it.

“You’d better not.” Barnes shifted so that Peggy’s hand was in the crook of his elbow. “And no one’s asking you to replace Captain America, Sargent. He needs his Bucky just as much as Steve Rogers does. And the war needs James Barnes as much as it needs Steve Rogers.”

“Now who’s the flatterer,” Barnes said with a smile. “And please, not James. I know you Brits love to be formal, but just Bucky for now.” 

Peggy wasn’t quite sure she’d ever rolled her eyes more in one night, and she’d grown up with a brother who thought he knew best in everything.

When the two of them reached the door, Barnes nodded at her and held up a finger. He headed for the bar and it was barely the blink of an eye before he was back. He held a glass of clear liquid out to Peggy and kept the shot of whiskey for himself.

“I only warrant a club soda?” she asked. Barnes shot his whiskey back and grinned at her.

“I told you I wouldn’t make a move on you, Carter. Besides, can’t have Cap getting mad at me for getting his best girl drunk.”

Peggy leveled him with a look and squared her shoulders. She caught sight of the rest of the Commandos around a table a few feet away and she strode over.

“Timothy,” she started. He’d told her that he thought of his mother whenever she used his first name and she couldn’t stop herself from that point on. Dugan snapped a yes ma’am out even though it was clear he was passed tipsy, his hat cockeyed on his head. “May I have that whiskey in front of you? I daresay you’ll survive without one of those shots.”

Dugan, to his credit, only glanced around the table for approval before nodding once and handing her one of the glasses in front of him. She smiled at him in thanks and clapped a hand on his shoulder before turning back to Barnes. She downed the shot and put the glass on the table upside down before meeting his eyes head on.

He just grinned and held a hand out towards the dance floor where a number of pairs were moving in time to the band as they played a song fit for the jitterbug. The two of them had barely made it onto the floor when the music changed into something a touch slower. Barnes held his hands up and let Peggy step into the circle of his arms to get in position. His touch was light and he led unobtrusively. They glided into a foxtrot and kept it up through the first bridge of the song. He was a fine dancer, but this hadn’t been what Peggy’d had in mind when he asked.   

“I can do something more complicated than the basic foxtrot, Sargent,” Peggy told him after a few more 8 counts, clearly annoyed. Barnes rolled his eyes.

“I told you to stop calling me Sargent, Carter. It’s my night off and I got a pretty dame who could kick my ass on the dance floor. It’s just Bucky.”

They turned in perfect time to the music. “Well then, Bucky,” she fell into a terrible Brooklyn accent at his name and he laughed, “I told you I love to dance. And I don’t love anything I’m not good at. Step it up unless you want me to lead.”

Bucky’s eyes glittered and he seamlessly moved into the Baltimore. Peggy adjusted her steps perfectly and they moved around the floor, Bucky improvising every few counts and Peggy keeping up. The pace of the song was just a touch too slow to switch into much else, but the additions that Bucky threw in fit and Peggy was impressed. He hadn’t been lying when he said he was a good dancer‒ which she should have known because Steve had confirmed it, ribbing him as a regular ladies’ man back home.

The song ended and the band launched into something quicker and Bucky’s steps slid into the Charleston. He looked at her challengingly as he did and Peggy followed him as though they’d danced together their whole lives. She’d always been too competitive even when it was in fun. They ran through steps as quickly as Bucky thought of them and the timing was right. He twirled her out of his arms and they boogie woogied back together and Peggy’s smile was genuine.

“Can you swing?” Bucky asked as the music changed again, this time something similar but bouncier.

“Not in this dress,” Peggy told him. He threw his head back in laughter and they started to lindy hop, turning and spinning with more ease than anyone on the floor.

“C’mon, Peg, I won’t flip you at all, just off to the side and I’ll put you down real gentle.” He said it like a man expecting to get no for an answer.

She shook her head and he just laughed again, neither one of them ever falling out of step with the music or with each other. Neither of them kept track of how long they stayed on the dancefloor before Bucky’s shirt was stuck to his chest and Peggy had a pool of sweat on her lower back. She was the first to beg off for a break.

“I’m sure we’ve burned off all that whiskey. Another?”

“A dame after my own heart.”

This time they ordered tumblers, Peggy taking hers on the rocks and Bucky taking his neat. Peggy looked at the table the Commandos occupied. Dugan was slumped over with his head on his arms and Jones and Dernier were having an animated conversation in French, laughing every other sentence. Peggy couldn’t quite catch the gist of it because of that. Morita and Falsworth seemed to be engaged in a game of trying to toss bits of paper into Dugan’s hat without him waking up.  Peggy smiled fondly and Bucky followed her eyes. He snorted and took a drink.

Peggy cut her eyes to Bucky. “I would have thought you’d spend the night in much the same vein as them.”

“I spend plenty of time with them out in the field. Even if I’m up in a tree half the time,” he said with a shrug. 

Peggy decided to take that for face value despite what she heard in his voice and the two of them watched as Jones pounding the table in laughter startled Dugan awake and his hat fell off his head. Paper bits rained down on him and then everyone but Dugan was guffawing as though they hadn’t a care in the world. It was a lovely sight.

The glasses on their table were empty and it was Falsworth who stood up first.

“Come on, lads, we’ve sullied this establishment long enough. It’s time to sleep in a real bed for a change.”

Dugan cheered as he stumbled to his feet, and it set the others to joining him. Bucky shook his head watching. The troop of them headed out, passing by Bucky and Peggy on their way.

“You coming, Sarge?” Morita asked. He seemed to be the least intoxicated of them all, but he was by no means stone sober. Bucky raised his glass in response; it was half full.

“Plus, as much as she can take care of herself, I’d hate to think what Steve would say if I let Agent Carter walk herself home.”

“Such a gentleman,” Jones snorted as he passed by. Bucky shoved at him playfully and it got a grin from Jones, his dimples shining as bright as his teeth. Dugan tipped his hat drunkenly to Peggy as they left and she smiled watching them walk out the door, arms half slung around each other in varying ways.

Bucky and Peggy stood in what could have been considered a contemplative silence for a while before Peggy broke it.

“Why did you ask me to dance tonight, Ja‒Bucky?”

Bucky tipped the rest of his drink back and set the glass on the table before he turned so that his elbows were behind him against the bar. He kicked his feet out and affected a nonchalant pose; it would have been convincing for anyone else. He glanced over at Peggy for a split second.

“Would you believe me if I told you it was just because you were a beautiful woman outside smoking alone and the band was too good to pass up?”

Part of Peggy wanted to believe that, but his voice belied the truth. “No.”

He sighed and then shrugged. Peggy turned and leaned an elbow on the bar and swirled the ice cubes in her drink around. Bucky ran a hand through his hair. He turned to mirror her so they were facing each other.

“I was worried that you thought we’d gotten off on the wrong foot.”

It was the last thing Peggy had expected to hear him say and she set her glass down with much more force than she intended.  He held up a hand before she could ask why in the world he thought that.

“A few of the Howlies seem to have it in their heads that I’m not too fond of you. One of them in particular thinks that I downright dislike you, Agent Carter.”

“What?” Peggy sputtered. Her surprise was completely genuine and she goggled at Bucky. 

“I was worried you thought that as well.”

“Who thinks that? And why?  You’ve never been anything but respectful of me, Sargent Barnes. I’ve never once gotten the impression that you have any ill will towards me.” Peggy mentally ran through all of her interactions with Bucky and in not one of them did she see any evidence that he disliked her.

Bucky laughed a little. “Honestly, most of them wouldn’t notice anyone else was even in the vicinity with you around, considering you’re about the prettiest woman any of them have had the luck to talk to.” Peggy rolled her eyes at that and would blame the whiskey for the flush on her cheeks if anyone asked. “Not that they don’t see you as a soldier and respect you as an agent‒”

“Bucky, get to it,” she prodded.

 “It’s mostly Steve himself,” he admitted. He ran his hand over his face instead of his hair that time, and he gestured to the barman for another round without asking Peggy if she wanted one. The barman nodded to him and turned for the bottle. “And Morita, honestly, because he sees a lot more than people give him credit for. Doubly so considering the digs they make and all‒”

“What do you mean Steve himself?” Peggy cut him off. She hated hearing about what Jim Morita went through.  The bartender came by and poured whiskey into their glasses and Peggy paused. Bucky dug into his pocket to pay the man and she let him. When he went back to his previous post, Peggy continued on.  “Why does Steve think I don’t care for you?”

She hated how she’d phrased it, but she couldn’t take it back then.

Bucky took a drink from his glass. “Well,” he started. He shook his head and downed the rest of his drink in one go and Peggy’s eyes went wide. She took a demure sip from her glass. His glass clinked loudly when he set it down. He had a smirk on his face, not one of amusement though, when he went on. Whatever he had to say, it was something that he needed his nerves for. “Steve knows I’m a bit of a jealous guy.”

Peggy almost choked on her drink as he said it. She recovered quickly and gulped down another swallow. She hoped she would have something to say by the time she could speak but she didn’t, and her response was to take another drink. And another. She too, had finished her drink by the time she was ready to speak to that.

“I hardly think I’m anyone to be jealous over.”

Bucky looked at her completely confused and Peggy swirled her glass around, what was left of the ice cubes hitting each other with a dull sound. They were so small that they didn’t make a sound when they hit the sides of the glass. She brought the glass back to her lips and then with a sigh set it down again, signaling for the bartender and ignoring his raised eyebrows of shock as he returned with the bottle. Bucky dug out money before she could stop him and he wouldn’t look her in the eye as he paid for a second round of drink in less than five minutes. Peggy put a hand on his arm when he set his glass back down after taking a healthy drink from it.

“I mean it. I’m not anyone to be jealous over.”

“Agent Carter‒”

“Peggy, please. I’m quite serious, Bucky. I’m not anyone to be jealous over, let alone of your best friend. I mean,” she started, taking a quick swig and knowing she was about to start rambling as she did when she was nervous around someone whose opinion mattered. “I’m damaged goods at this point. Who wants a woman who’s broken off an engagement to join the front lines of a war? Throwing a punch isn’t exactly a marriageable trait for a woman. Especially one who never shuts up and can drink like a man and who can’t cook or sew or‒”

“Carter‒Peggy, you’ve got the complete wrong idea,” Bucky stopped her before she could go on. He pressed his hand over her mouth and her eyes lit in shock. He quickly let it fall and went back to resting one hand on his thigh and the other around his drink. Peggy took a generous sip from her drink and tried not to let her embarrassment show. She certainly hadn’t meant to go on for so long.   Bucky took another drink before he spoke. “You’re a hell of a woman, Agent Carter. Anyone can see that, and if they can’t, they’re dumber than a box of rocks.”

Peggy opened her mouth to call him a flatterer and deflect but he didn’t let her. He held up a hand.

“And that’s my hand to God, ma’am. I’ve known a lot of women and a number of them were topnotch, but you’re something else. But you’ve still got the wrong idea about me. I certainly didn’t ask you to dance out of some secret longing.”

Peggy finally caught Bucky’s eyes and they held gazes for what felt like eternity but was more than likely barely ten seconds before he looked away and drank. He drained his glass and she watched his throat convulse around swallowing and the flush that crept barely above his collar. He clearly had said more than he’d meant to and suddenly it occurred to her.

She downed her drink in one go, again, and finally, it felt like it was hitting her. She flushed and it wasn’t just because of the drink. Bucky wasn’t jealous over her, he was jealous _of_ her and if it were simply because of a best friendship, out of loyalty and nothing more, he would have been able to meet her eyes, no? But suddenly all the looks she’d seen between Steve and Bucky flashed into her mind and something colored them‒ was there want in those glimpses? Was there something unspeakable in polite company between the two of them? She knew that if she were a proper sort of woman she would be appalled, but she felt nothing of the sort. In fact, a warmth rushed through her, part jealousy and part happiness for the two of them, but largely lust.

She wouldn’t bring it up to him right then though‒ she could read his embarrassment too clearly and beyond that, anything she wanted to know the full details about was illegal, even if many people during war time looked the other way in the face of such things. Instead, Peggy just brought a hand to Bucky’s forearm and looked him dead in the eye when he looked up. She didn’t take her eyes off of him as he finished his drink and set it down, even if he couldn’t look at her straight.

“Sargent Barnes,” she began, affecting a much more formal air than necessary, “I do believe I have had just a touch too much to drink. Would you accompany me back to my quarters? For my safety, of course,” she tacked onto the end. In a different set of circumstances she may have giggled, but now she didn’t.

Bucky searched her face for whatever game she might be playing but he found nothing but sincerity and he stood up. He held his arm out with a small flourish and Peggy smirked at him.

“Agent Carter, it would be my pleasure.”

Peggy took his arm and with a smile at the bartender, she let Bucky lead her out of the bar. They’d made it barely twenty feet when he made a move to let her have her arm back to herself but Peggy made a noise of displeasure. He looked vaguely shocked but he didn’t move to back away from her at all. 

As they stepped outside onto the street, Peggy pulled a cigarette out of the holder she had stashed in her bra and held the box out to Bucky. He smirked in genuine amusement and Peggy blushed just enough to remain proper.

“A handbag isn’t exactly convenient during a war, you know, and a woman has to keep some vices,” she said as she fished the book of matches from the case when Bucky handed it back. Bucky didn’t say anything as she lit hers and held the book out to him. He lit his cigarette with her case still in his hand and then slipped the matchbook back into it before sliding the whole thing into his pocket.

“I’ll give it back, I swear,” he told her. Peggy nodded at him and the two of them smoked in relative silence; London was much quieter than it ever had been in Peggy’s lifetime and it felt like all she could hear was her breathing and the click of her heels on the street. Bucky’s footsteps seemed so much lighter. He led the way towards the hotel they were staying at for the evening, merely raising an eyebrow to ask whether that was her room for the night as well. Peggy couldn’t be sure if it took no time at all or forever for them to reach the door of the place.

The attendant on duty was fast asleep‒ he had his chin in his hand and was practically drooling‒ and Peggy held back a laugh; she could feel that Bucky had to do so as well. When they reached the second floor they both let go and laughed a little.

“This place is safe as houses with him on watch,” Bucky joked. Peggy swatted at him with a laugh bubbling in her mouth. He smiled over at her and it wasn’t until then that he felt an awkwardness creep in. He cleared his throat. “So, Agent Carter, which room is yours?”

Peggy didn’t answer him, but she began to lead. They were still arm in arm and Bucky put up no hesitation to follow. Peggy led them up to the third floor, the floor where most of the officers were stationed for this leave and Bucky felt a drip of hesitation fall over him. This was Steve’s floor; they may have given Peggy a room on this floor strictly because she was a woman, but she and Bucky himself really only should have warranted the second floor. Bucky’s trepidation grew as Peggy kept on down the hall and headed toward where he knew Steve’s room was. He pulled her arm and got her to stop before she could knock on a door.

“Carter, what are you doing?” he asked in a fierce whisper. She looked nonplussed.

“I would have thought that was obvious.”

Bucky shook his head. “Well, ma’am, it’s not‒”

“Stop calling me ‘ma’am,’ Bucky.”

“Fine, Peggy, what the hell are you doing?”

She didn’t answer right away, she just jerked her head towards the door to Steve’s room. Bucky wanted to not think about why she knew it was Steve’s room, but then he’d have to admit to himself that she probably also didn’t want to know how _he_ knew it was Steve’s room so he shut that part of his brain completely up as fast as he could.

Peggy rolled her eyes.

“Stop dithering and go in,” she said, her tone telling Bucky exactly how exasperated she was. He gaped at her.

“What?”

“Oh, come on, go on then,” she insisted. Bucky continued to stare at her and search her eyes and it took a moment before he realized what she’d meant by all this. He shook his head vehemently and grabbed back onto Peggy’s arm. He had no ideaa when they’d stopped touching each other.

“No, you go in!” he demanded. “You knock on that door and let Steve know you’re here and that you’re here for him! It’s you he’s expecting! It’s you he wants!”

“Oh, bollocks!” Peggy shot back. She clutched back at him and tried to shake him as though that would put some sense in him. “Sargent Barnes, you go in! I’m only here as a distraction, a patsy. You go be with him‒”

But whatever Peggy was going to say was interrupted by a knock from inside the room.

“Um, sorry to stop you two, but you do realize with my new hearing I’m getting all of this, right?”  Steve sounded embarrassed from the other side of the door and Bucky and Peggy both glared at each other without restraint. Neither of them would admit how foolish they felt in that moment. There was a beat before Steve went on. “I’ll assume that silence means you didn’t think about that. I’m going to open the door now, alright?”

He didn’t wait for any possible protests before the door swung open. He was in an undershirt‒ a jacket haphazardly thrown over it to show that he was trying for some form of propriety‒ and his field pants. It was obvious he hadn’t expected anyone and had thrown on whatever he could to make himself decent. The pants were slung too low on his hips and his hair was tousled as though he’d either laid down on it or been sliding a hand through it for hours. Only the stain of lead on his palm told Peggy and Bucky which one it was.

“What are you two doing here?” Steve asked.

Peggy nor Bucky actually had an answer for that question and they wound up looking at each other baffled and embarrassed. They realized they were still holding on to each other and their hands fell like they’d been scalded. Steve raised a brow at them. Bucky looked down at his feet as a blush appeared at his collar. It crept no further up and Peggy looked between it and the pink at the top of Steve’s ears before she made a decision.

“We’re here to see you and sort some things out, Captain Rogers,” she said definitively and grabbed Bucky’s arm again before stepping into Steve’s room. “That is, if you don’t mind,” she amended herself. Steve’s lips twisted in amusement as Peggy hauled Bucky in and then shut the door with her foot.

Steve nodded, “I don’t mind.” His eyes sparkled with laughter he was holding in and it made Peggy huff. Yet, when she opened her mouth to start the conversation, nothing came out. Bucky was just as silent and Steve turned on him. His ears were still pink but he seemed ready to work through it. “You wanna start, Buck?”

“Look, the only reason I’m here is because Carter’s confused.” Peggy shot him a glare that he ignored. He rubbed the back of his neck and continued. “There’s nothing for us to sort out. I know it. The only reason she doesn’t is because you know I run my damn mouth around pretty girls and I—“

“You run your mouth around everyone, Buck; not sure how you stay so quiet up in those trees—“ Steve interrupted, teasingly. Bucky flipped him the bird in response.

“Can it, Rogers.” He took a deep breath and suddenly looked far more serious than he had. And far more sad if Peggy could read him correctly. “Steve, I don’t need to be here. You two don’t need me to be here. That’s all there is to it.”

Before Steve could answer, Peggy spoke up, finding her voice. “I could just as easily say the same thing, Sargent Barnes.” She amended herself at his look. Her voice was nearly pleading when she did. “James, I mean. Bucky.”

Steve’s eyes widened just a fraction before he made a soft noise. Bucky and Peggy both turned to look at him from where they’d been half glaring at each other.

“So, this hearing really is as good as I thought.” He couldn’t seem to meet Peggy’s eyes for a moment. When he did finally, there was none of the defiance he usually wore, just vulnerability. “You two must have had a hell of a conversation tonight.”

“But that’s the thing, Steve,” Peggy told him. She stepped forward and put her hand on his arm, forcing him to keep looking at her. She willed understanding into her gaze. “We didn’t have much of one.”

“You must have had enough of one.”

Peggy didn’t respond, but Bucky did. “Get that look off your face, Stevie. She’s here. She walked with me here. She’s still your girl, no reason to act all mopey about it. You got nothing to be ashamed of.”

Steve shot Bucky a look, but Peggy tugged on his arm to quell it. “He’s right, you know. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.” Steve looked at her with disbelief and Peggy smiled a little. “Honestly, Steve, I wouldn’t be here if I were appalled or upset. I just wish you would have told me. I would have been fine playing along—“

“Wait, playing—what?” Steve sputtered and Bucky threw up his hands.

“This is what I was telling you.”

“Steve,” Peggy said, blushing and looking away, “there’s no need to pretend. I understand—“

“Buck’s right, you are confused,” he muttered. Peggy’s eyes turned hard and he shook his head. “You’ve got it all wrong, Peggy. I’m not pretending about anything. I lo—“ he cut himself off and the tips of his ears burned crimson up from their earlier pink. “I do care about you. More than I should probably admit. Especially when we’re standing here in this situation.”

Peggy slid her hand down so it was no longer resting on Steve’s forearm but on the back of his hand. He turned his hand over to take hers and his thumb brushed across her knuckles. It made Peggy feel like she could cry. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been preparing to tell him goodbye until he’d almost said what he’d said. What she felt too.

“This is why I don’t need to be here,” Bucky said under his breath. Peggy barely heard him, but Steve did loud and clear. He looked up at his friend, emotions warring on his face.

“But you love him.” Peggy said it without trying to be quiet.  Steve didn’t hesitate at all; he nodded, never turning his gaze away from Bucky.

“Since we were 15 years old.” 

“You’re an idiot, Stevie,” Bucky said in a pained voice. Steve gave a half smile and shrugged, his one hand still holding Peggy’s. “And a god damn punk.”

“Language, Buck. There’s a lady present.”

Peggy laughed before she could stop it. She felt Steve look at her and it made her laugh even harder. She felt giddy. They were in the middle of a war, any one of them could be dead within hours and the three of them were acting as though the end of the world had just now personally come to call. She couldn’t stop laughing.

She dropped Steve’s hand and stumbled her way to the chair he’d obviously spent most of the evening in. Had she been able to concentrate on anything other than how ridiculous things seemed, she would have noticed the sketches on the table.

“Nice going, Rogers, you broke the only dame to ever look at you twice.”

“Hey!”

“Although I suppose that’s hardly true in these new digs, huh?”

Peggy looked up from her laughter just in time to see Steve jostle his shoulder into Bucky’s and the two of them smirk at each other. There was a light in the way they looked at one another and it kept Peggy smiling. She could look at the two of them happy for a long time, she thought. She thought she might be settling in to do just that when Bucky turned to look at her.

Her heart lurched. There was something so open in Bucky’s face at that moment. She didn’t know Bucky Barnes well, though tonight seemed to be the last night she could say that, but she could read him like a book in that moment. He loved Steve Rogers. Quite possibly with his whole heart and right now he wasn’t afraid of showing it to her. It felt like a gift. Though whether it was for Steve or for her, she wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter either way; she knew how she had to respond.

“Not so fast, Sargent Barnes,” she started, mirth clear in her voice. “I noticed him even before the serum, back when he was skinny as a rail.”

Bucky smirked and Steve looked a mess of emotions: embarrassment, pleasure and pride, and mild offense. It made Peggy’s mouth curve into a smile.

“Well I guess you and I’ve got something else in common then, Agent Carter.” Bucky’d cottoned on to what Peggy was trying to do, it was clear from the tone of his voice.

“Yes, I suppose we do,” Peggy answered. She brought her eyes to Steve and her smile turned cockier. She stood up from the chair she’d occupied and walked to where Steve and Bucky stood. Steve looked between the two of them in confusion. “We’ve all been very stupid about this whole thing haven’t we?”

“We have?” Steve asked.

Peggy nodded. “I’d say we have. There’s a war on, gentlemen, and we’re in the middle of it.” Peggy took a deep breath and plunged ahead with what she wanted to say without thinking too hard about it. “And here we are. Here you are, Steven Rogers, with two people who love you and we’re not taking advantage of it.”

If anyone asked Peggy what had bolstered her nerve to say it, even if it were indirect, she would have told them it was the whiskey and the dancing from earlier in the evening. In truth, it was the headiness of knowing what could come; it was the recklessness that the horrors she’d seen gave her and the possibility for pleasure that lay in front of her.

But no one asked. Steve looked at her for a beat and then his hands were around her waist and pulling her to him. Peggy craned her neck to look at him.

“And what should we be doing to take advantage of it?”

Peggy couldn’t respond before Bucky did it for her.

“Shut up and kiss the woman, Stevie.”

Steve leaned down and slid his mouth onto Peggy’s and as far as first kisses went it felt chaste and sweet, but god, it was also earth shattering. If Peggy had had any qualms about qualifying her feelings for Steve Rogers as love, the way the simple press of his lips to hers made her feel squashed them. She surged up and deepened the kiss, her tongue darting out to tease at the seam of his pout and Steve let her in immediately. And then the kiss was no longer chaste but hot and heavy and Steve’s hands dug into her back to pull Peggy even closer to him. Peggy could feel every ripple of his muscles as he bent to push their bodies flush together.

Peggy grasped at Steve’s shoulders and without thinking about it her hands moved to push the jacket he’d thrown on to the floor. She heard something and at first she thought it was her own self, lost in the pleasure of Steve’s lips on hers but then she realized it was Bucky and he was laughing quietly.

Peggy pulled away. “And just what is so funny, James?”

Steve looked a little bit dazed for a moment when Peggy stared him a glance. His hands were still tight around her and she could feel the slight twitching of his abs as he twisted around.

“Everything is funny, Peggy. Everything.”

He’d barely gotten it out before Steve snaked an arm out and pulled Bucky closer so he was flush against the side of them. His breath caught but he didn’t have a chance to say anything else before, with one last questioning glimpse at Peggy, Steve grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him close.

“Shut up, Buck,” he whispered and then the two of them were kissing.

Peggy’d known it was a thing certain men did; she’d known it was frowned upon and earlier she’d thought about the attractiveness of the idea, but watching the two of them so up close and personal gave her an entirely different idea of the matter. They were beautiful together.

Objectively the two of them were beautiful apart as well, but watching the emotions pouring from both of them, simply from kissing, it was a completely different world. The love they shared was obvious. Some part of Peggy wondered if that’s what she and Steve had looked like moments ago, but then Steve started to move so he could push Bucky’s jacket off of him. Peggy was very proud of her physique and she knew she was attractive, but the way Bucky’s arms flexed as he let his jacket drop to the floor was spectacular. She may have even made a sound to indicate that she thought so.

“Like what you see, Agent Carter?” Bucky asked as he pulled away from Steve. He was smirking.

“Would you think me improper if I said yes?” Peggy retorted. Bucky’s smirk turned into a rakish grin and she couldn’t help but smile back at him. Steve looked overwhelmed for a moment, his eyes traveling from Bucky to Peggy and back again. But then he began to grin too.

“How the hell did a punk like me end up here, huh?” He chuckled a bit and his grip on both of them—because he had an arm wrapped around each of them still—tightened a little.

“Lotta goddamn luck, honestly,” Bucky told him. Steve hadn’t been looking for an answer and it’d been obvious, but it was nice to hear one. Especially one that was so right.

“Well, if it’s just luck, why don’t we push it a little bit more?” Peggy asked before she could stop herself. She brought Steve’s hand from the small of her back to the top of it where there was a short row of buttons.

She didn’t say anything, just moved her own hand to unzip the side closure; with her nerves she was suddenly grateful that she hadn’t worn a fully buttoned dress—she never would have been able to undo them. Steve’s hands were sure at her neck though. His thumb traced the newly bared skin and Peggy shivered. She stepped away from him slightly and smiled at his confusion.

“It’s got to go over my head, not be stepped out of, darling,” she said by way of explanation. Steve blushed and Bucky tried to hide a snort of a laugh. Peggy was able to hide her own moment of laughter in her dress as she tried to slip it over herself as gracefully as possible. She felt hands lifting the garment away from her and then she was standing in front of Steve in her underthings. Bucky was behind her folding her dress and putting it on the chair she’d been in, but she barely noticed. Steve was staring.

“Peggy.” That was all Steve got out before he moved closer to her and wrapped her in his arms again. He kissed her, harder than before, and Peggy was lost in it. She barely felt her feet leaving the floor or her shoes slipping off and she hardly noticed they were moving until the back of her legs hit the bed. Steve broke the kiss when she sat. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

His words were so earnest that Peggy blushed. She looked away from him for a moment and caught Bucky’s eye. His pupils were blown, not as wide as Steve’s, but enough that Peggy felt heat zing through her. Her voice was light when she replied, “I was under the impression I was the only woman you’d ever seen in such a state.”

Steve smiled at her teasing and Bucky laughed.

“Well, I did spend a few months with a lot of chorus girls, Peg. Never like this though.”

“I was gonna ask about that,” Bucky admitted. Steve rolled his eyes and it made Peggy laugh. “You are a hell of a sight, though, Peggy. And not to sound rude, but you aren’t the only woman I’ve seen in her knickers.”

“Buck,” Steve admonished.

Peggy swatted him on the shoulder. “There’s no need to insist on propriety, Steve. I did, after all, just watch the two of you kiss and then disrobe. I hope there’s no confusion about what’s about to occur.”

“What is about the occur?” Bucky asked, a bit of a challenge in his voice. Steve looked curiously between the two of them.

“Well,” she started, “I’m not sure what the two of you get up to exactly, but I was rather hoping it could be modified to accommodate me. That we could have a, what’s the term? _Menage trois_ is what they call it, yes?”

Steve blushed furiously and Bucky laughed again and finally came closer to the bed. His steps stuttered once and then he tossed himself onto the bed next to her.  He brought a hand up to cup Peggy’s face.

“I meant what I said earlier, Carter. You’re a helluva sight and a helluva woman.” His eyes searched her face. “You mind if I kiss you? I know this is more about Steve but—“

“Yes, please do,” Peggy nodded, not even letting him finish his sentence. He didn’t need to be told twice.

There wasn’t the same rush of passion there had been with Steve, but Bucky Barnes kissed her like he meant it and meant to wow her with it. His lips were soft and his tongue was teasing  and Peggy heard herself moan into the kiss, but not nearly as loud as Steve did.

“Jesus,” he breathed as Peggy and Bucky broke apart. Bucky looked poised to say something, but Steve cut him off by kissing him. It was quick and deep and left Bucky a little dazed when he pulled back to give the same treatment to Peggy. “God, I want you. I want both of you so much.”

“You’ve got us, darling.” Peggy’s chest heaved as she said it, out of breath from the kiss. She glanced down at Steve where his skin was flushed next to his white undershirt. “Though it does seem unfair that both of you are so much more clothed than I am.”

She’d barely gotten the words out before Steve had his hands at the hem of his shirt and was whipping it off, tossing it backwards. Bucky followed suit and brought his hands to his fly. Steve’s hands went to the laces of Bucky’s boots and undid them with practiced ease. Bucky was down to his boxers and Steve went to work to match him. Peggy couldn’t help the way her hands traced over Bucky’s shoulders while Steve was standing out of reach.

“You’re probably used to hearing you’re a handsome man,” Peggy said. Bucky shrugged and even though he didn’t have Steve’s enhanced body, he was beautiful.

“Doesn’t hurt hearing it again.” His hand came to Peggy’s thigh and the warmth of it overwhelmed her for a moment. Her eyes fluttered closed as he trailed his fingers against her skin and she let out a quiet moan when Steve’s hands joined his on her legs.

“Stevie, I got an idea.” The two of them shared a look before Bucky turned his attention back to Peggy. “You trust me, Carter?”

Peggy nodded and then Bucky’s hands were at her back, unclasping her bra and letting it fall. She felt his and Steve’s eyes on her and how Steve’s fingers tightened on her thigh. She was liable to have bruises on her skin tomorrow but she couldn’t care less in the moment. Bucky was pulling Steve up before she knew it and Steve’s mouth latched onto her chest, peppering sucking kisses all over her. His tongue teased at her nipples and he kissed the undersides of her breasts and Peggy couldn’t stop her hands from getting as good a grip as they could in his hair. He suckled at her and she could feel herself getting wetter as he moaned around her. Bucky’s fingers were at the edge of her panties and she felt herself nod at a question he hadn’t asked. Steve didn’t stop kissing on her chest as Bucky started to slide her panties off her hips until she could wriggle herself out of them. She didn’t even register her nudity before someone—Bucky, she suspected—was sliding his hand up and letting his fingers part her folds.

“Stevie, I know, she’s got a great tits—“ Steve was so turned on that he didn’t attempt to make Bucky be proper, and he just moaned around where he was circling Peggy’s nipple—“But I think you should get on your knees. See what it’s like to put your mouth on a woman.”

Peggy let out a small “oh” as Bucky brushed a finger across her clit to get his hand to Steve’s chin and aim his head down. Steve went without further coaxing, kissing down Peggy’s stomach and then her thighs but wasting no time licking into her.

“He’ll make up for technique in enthusiasm,” Bucky joked almost into Peggy’s ear as Steve tongued at her. He wanted to taste every part of her and made no attempts to hide it, his tongue sliding around her clit and inside her and his lips pulling at her. Peggy moaned instead of telling Bucky to shut up and she yanked him forward so she could kiss him instead of begging Steve to get her off as quickly as possible.

Bucky brought his hands up, one holding himself up pressed right against her chest so she could feel the heat of him and the other cupping her breast. His fingers crept up to play with her nipple and Peggy moaned into his mouth. Steve was moaning into her as his nose pressed into her clit and his tongue darted into her cunt. He ate her out like he never wanted to do anything else and Peggy couldn’t stop the grip she had on his head. Bucky toyed with her chest, tweaking her nipples and rubbing around them to stimulate her as they kissed and she was quite sure she was about to lose her mind when he broke it off.

“Suck on her clit, Stevie,” he said, just loud enough, and Steve followed his command. Bucky sucked Peggy’s earlobe into his mouth and laughed around it as Peggy cried out and spread her legs wider. “Keep going until she screams.”

With the fervor Steve approached that idea with, it didn’t take long until Peggy’s legs were quivering. The way Bucky kept nibbling on her ear and at her neck helped and she came with a curse and threw her head back. She was catching her breath and Steve moved to kiss up her stomach.

“Fuck me.” The way she said it wasn’t a request.

“Funny,” Steve said, pressing one more kiss to her, right between her breasts. He looked over at Bucky. “I was about to say the same thing.”

“You’ve never had to tell me twice. That arrangement okay with you, Peggy?”

Peggy was on the verge of saying she didn’t care what happened as long as someone got inside of her when the full implication of what Steve had said hit her. The idea of Steve letting someone inside of him, especially while he was inside of her, was almost too much and Peggy just groaned. She tried to nod, but she knew it may have come off too desperate.

“I think she likes that idea, Stevie. Is that true, Peggy? You like the idea of having Stevie in you while I’m in him? Knowing he’s getting fucked while he’s fucking you?”

“Jesus, your mouth,” Steve breathed. Peggy saw Bucky’s smirk. Part of her didn’t want to give him the satisfaction but it was overruled by the part of her that nodded vehemently.

“Please.”

She heard rather than saw the smack Bucky gave to Steve’s ass and she smiled. “You heard the lady. You got rubbers left in here? Or slick?”

Steve pointed toward the table with its drawers and Bucky went to retrieve a condom and, apparently, Vaseline.

“I love you,” Steve told her, staring into her eyes. It was nearly too intense but Peggy found herself nodding and reaching up for him to pull him into a kiss.

“I love you, too.” The kiss they shared was sweet and she tried to ignore the way his hard cock felt against her stomach where he was laying on her, but she couldn’t. She loved him, and she would have loved him had he stayed a short, skinny, good man, but no part of him reflected a small stature. She wanted to feel him stretch her open. She kept kissing him, afraid of saying as much.

When Steve pulled away from the kiss it was only so he could pull Bucky into one and Peggy looked her fill. She followed the dark trail of hair that started at Bucky’s navel down to his cock and as much as she wanted Steve inside of her, she wished she’d be able to see Bucky’s cock thrust into him. The thought alone made her feel warmer. When Bucky spoke she felt herself go even hotter.

“One of these times I’m gonna want you inside me, Rogers.” Bucky reached a hand around and gripped Steve’s cock at the base and Steve groaned. “I want this in me.” Bucky started to roll the condom he’d torn open onto Steve and bit into his neck. “But now I want to watch you let Agent Carter have it.”

The way Bucky’s voice made the words “Agent Carter” into something dirty had Peggy bringing a hand to her own chest. It was reverence and attraction and something else that made her feel powerful and turned on and her breath came harder.

“Please, Steve,” she said and her heels came to rest against Steve’s thighs. He was nodding absently and Peggy watched as Bucky’s one hand moved to where she couldn’t see it. His other was gripping Steve’s waist and she could imagine where the one had gone, especially when Steve’s eyelids fluttered the way they did. The sound of Bucky dipping his fingers into the Vaseline was sexier than Peggy would have ever guessed and she couldn’t stop herself from pulling Steve down into another kiss.

One of her hands moved down to grip his cock and she positioned him so he could enter her. His hips surged forward as if on their own accord and the head of him nudged against her opening. Peggy moaned and spread her legs further apart and tried to pull him into her. He pushed inside her and her mouth opened in a silent cry.

“Peggy,” he breathed and she let out a moan in response. He felt amazing and she wanted him, so much more of him. The one hand still dug into his hair tightened and she tried to force him forward. He went, willingly, and he filled her up. He felt amazing, the length and girth of him opening her and reminding her what pleasure could feel like.

“Steve,” she groaned and kissed him.  God, she wanted him to move. “Please.”

“Peggy. Peggy,” he kept saying her name, but he was still.

“Keep steady, Stevie, I got you,” Bucky told him. Steve bucked forward and groaned and it made Peggy moan. “Fuck, baby, let me in and you can do your worst.”

There was a moment where Steve was deathly still and Peggy worried, but then he let out a groan that was nearly a cry and he twitched and moved inside her. Peggy could hear Bucky’s movements more than she could see them with how concentrated she was on Steve’s face. His jaw was slack but his eyes were focused on her. He gave the occasional glance down to watch how her breasts bounced with every thrust he gave. She grabbed his face to force him to look her in the eye.

“Fuck me. Don’t let Barnes do the work. Fuck me,” Peggy told him. She had no idea where it came from, but she meant it. Steve leaned down and kissed her thoroughly, his tongue exploring every bit of her mouth and his lips pressing into hers hard and he thrust. His hips snapped forward and fucked into her. He set his pace quicker and Peggy bucked against him, chasing after his body so she could rub her clit onto him. Steve groaned and Bucky groaned and Peggy felt like she might scream. She let her body take over for her without thought and her hips rocked under Steve. They rocked at his pace but opposite him and her clit kept brushing against his groin. His cock felt huge inside her as he thrust inside her and she felt nearly broken open. The way that Steve was moaning into her neck, she was quite certain he felt the same way. Or she would have been certain if she could think straight with the way she was being fucked.

She could see the way Bucky was fucking into Steve and the sight of his head thrown back in pleasure was enough to make her groan. It and the way that Steve’s breath caught against her neck and the way he was moving against her was it. She dug her heels into Steve’s thighs and her nails scratched into his broad shoulders and she was coming. She was coming hard and she thrashed a little bit in Steve’s grip.

“Keep going, Stevie, keep going,” Bucky breathed as he bent over Steve’s back and kissed his neck. His hips kept snapping and it wasn’t long until Steve was almost yelling, pleasure taking him over. His teeth bit into Peggy’s shoulder and it set her over the edge again, less intensely than the last time but it still brought a cry to her lips. Bucky thrust his hips forward, once, twice, and then he draped himself over Steve.

The three of them didn’t know how long they stayed flush together, each of them breathing into the others skin, but it was long enough. Peggy felt nearly overwhelmed by the weight of Steve and Bucky against her, but she’d also never felt quite as good in her life. When Steve slipped out of her, she felt empty.

“I love you,” he said again in a whisper and kissed her gently. He turned his head and said it to Bucky as well. “Thank you.”

He pulled a hand up to push Bucky off of him and Bucky flopped onto the bed. Peggy looked at him, taking the sweat that had gathered on his collar into account and the way his hair flopped in his face. He was nearly as beautiful as Steve was in that moment.

But Steve plopped down in between them and broke up her view. He turned his head to look at each of them in turn.

“So, was that a one-time only thing, or can I look forward to doing that again?”

Bucky moved and hit him in the face with a pillow and started to laugh. Peggy should have felt self-conscious, but she laughed just as hard and no embarrassment came. She let herself be maneuvered into a comfortable position under the cover of the bed and let Steve settle himself behind her. She felt no shame in her nudity and neither did he, according to the way he buried his nose into her neck. Bucky settled himself behind Steve and they were snug, but none of them cared.

“Helluva way to end the night,” Bucky said with a laugh and he snaked an arm around Peggy’s waist to pull them all closer together. She murmured her agreement and silently hoped that they could look forward to doing it again. It would make this war much more bearable if she knew she had Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes to comfort her.

***

When the news of Sargent James Barnes’ death reached her, Peggy schooled herself not to react but to close her eyes momentarily. She listened to the rest of the report of the mission with a straight face, but as soon as she had the chance to, she excused herself. She fumbled with the book of matches she had and she lit a cigarette. With her first inhale of the tobacco, she thought of that night that seemed so long ago that they’d danced and she’d learned the truth. She willed herself not to let the tears fall down her face as she wanted them to and she finished the cigarette. She buzzed just slightly as it hit her system and she tried to shake her head to clear herself up. It didn’t work, so instead, she put one foot in front of the other and walked toward her quarters. She knew that within the hour she would be needed at Steve’s side, but she would give him time to be alone, as she knew he needed. She needed her own time too. She took it, and spent a good portion of it face down on her bunk, crying, trying not to let the sound carry.

When she forced herself to get up, she fixed her lipstick and her mascara as best she could and she prepared herself to go see Steve.

 

 


End file.
